User talk:Lar/Archive 1

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[edit] Welcome

Hello Lar, and welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

• The Five Pillars of Wikipedia
• How to edit a page
• Editing tutorial
• Picture tutorial
• How to write a great article
• Naming conventions
• Manual of Style

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~~~. Four tildes (~~~~) produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! --Dmcdevit·t 21:43, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

glad to be here! Been here a while but mostly as a lurker, if you look at my contribs you'll see a few teeny edits here and there but nothing major. Most of the good links you gave me are already in my bookmarks although I confess the one I read the most is the how to edit a page one. ++Lar 21:53, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Bots

Hi Lar, your particular case for using a bot is actually one of the safest. There are a couple problems with bots: they request too fast, they make changes that are unexpected, and they can run away if not careful. However inside your particular domain you don't need to worry so much about it. Be nice to the wiki software and sleep for a couple seconds between requests to the web server. Add in checking so your bot won't overwrite a page if it already exists (it is also a good idea to log this so you can fix anything unexpected that happens). Don't write your bot in such a way that it requests data from your wiki then uses that as other instructions for processing; that will leave lots of possibilities for problems to creep in. The safest way is to combine the previous rules of thumb with an explicit list of things you intend to create (your list of LEGO colors here) and make requests only off that data. If you verify that your list only contains the proper template names (and you are properly identifying them as templates when you publish them) you have little room for error. Its really the larger bots that tend to get into trouble, things like "we need a bot that will fix the case of every occurrence of this person's last name." That type of program, if not done correctly, can wreak havoc on a wiki. If you have any other questions I'd suggest we continue this over email. Good luck and you are on the right track: let the machine do the boring bits! Triddle 06:17, July 26, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Christmas tree

Thanks! :-) Just noticed the anon removal too; when anons do anything I often check to see what else they've done (usually in case they've vandalised lots of pages), and this one turns out to be a shared IP number for the US House of Representatives . . . so fairly high-powered! - MPF 19:06, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Greetings, and ArbCom election stuff

Hi there! First of all, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance! As well, thanks for your kind words; I really appreciate them! I hope something truly comes of this ... whether I'm in the trenches or on the periphery.

Thanks as well for the feedback regarding my edit style. I know: it's a personal failing I acknowledge and need to rectify. I'm often so eager to put new stuff up (and am a perfectionist of sorts), that I often click 'Save page' instead of 'Show preview'. I will definitely be more diligent with this in the future.

I hope this is sufficient. Please let me know if you've any questions. Thanks again! E Pluribus Anthony 00:49, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Hi; thanks again for your note and for your feedback ... I appreciate it! I hope that our collective efforts regarding process bear fruit, but being bare – or a vegetable – is not bad either. :) E Pluribus Anthony 06:35, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] John Alexander Low Waddell and John Alexander Waddell

They certainly do seem to be the same person so a merge would definitely be in order. Probably easier to merge into John Alexander Low Waddell as it is the more complete article. Caerwine Caerwhine 22:29, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. They both mention the same bridges in the list of accomplishments and link to the same page on Structurae. Whichever way the merge is done, the article should keep the name John Alexander Low Waddell since that seems to be most common (along with "J.A.L. Waddell"). Mike Dillon 22:38, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

I shall take a crack at it and use the shorter as augment for the longer, and then leave the shorter as a redirect. Thanks guys... ++Lar 22:40, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ichthys

To answer your question in brief. Ichthys is a transliteration of the Greek word ιχθυς, which means fish. It was adopted by the early christians because it is also an acronym for Ιησους Χριστος, Υιος Θεου, Σοτηρ. Pronounced Iesus Christos, Hüios Theu, Sotér. It translates to Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. The important question, of course, is "Why the hell does a good little Jewish boy like me know that?" Daykart 19:44, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Oh, my bad, I misunderstood your question. I think it's because there are some evangelical types who find the term "Jesus fish" to be derogatory. Also, because the word Ichthys has alot to do with why the fish became a christian symbol. Daykart 22:33, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] TfD nomination of Template:NYC Hudson River crossings

Template:NYC Hudson River crossings has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at Wikipedia:Templates for deletion#Template:NYC Hudson River crossings. Thank you. --Chris 16:34, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] another map source

This serch engine is a great tool for finding TIGER maps of specific features very quickly. Cheers! Cacophony 04:15, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] user:Lar/Kingston-Port Ewen Suspension Bridge stats

From National Bridge Inventory:

• ID#: 1007350, intersects: DOCK STREET, RONDOUT CRE, location: 12.5MI N JCT RTS 9W+299
• Owner: State Highway Agency, Maintainer: same. Toll: No
• Built: 1921.
• Avg. daily traffic: 15,700 (1975)
• Material: Steel continous, Type: Suspension
• Main Span length: 323.6 meters = 1 061.67979 feet I made a mistake at or near this point, so there is more info that I need to gather after I troubleshoot my spreadsheet error. Let me know if any of that sounds funky. Cacophony 07:17, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

That all strikes me as correct (working from memory, we moved away from NY in 1995, but 1000 feet total span feels right to me, for example). Thanks muchly for sharing this data! Good luck with your spreadsheet debugging efforts. ++Lar 15:06, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Howcheng's RfA

[edit] William Bemister

Thank you Larry for your edits and suggestions. I have added some more comments on Usertalk. >chat 09:45, 27 December 2005 (GMT).

[edit] DYK

Did you know? has been updated. A fact from the article American Bridge Company, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

[edit] Pedantry

Thanks for your note, Larry, but your fears are groundless (on my part, anyway!) The true pedant goes beyond all that stuff. Whether you put the comma after "and" is a matter of taste, likewise splitting infinitives & whatnot. Your run-of-the-mill pedant just tries to score points, whereas your formidable pedant knows that the purpose of language is communication. He directs his energies to that. If you don't know Modern English Usage, it's beautiful. He cuts through all the crap and achieves an almost Zen-like state of clarity. My vigilantism will be inspired by that. Lots of people reading the English Wikipedia will have ESL (English as 2nd language) and the clearer we can make it, the better!

Francis Tyers has uploaded some nice pix for the Cassiobury Park article, if you want to take a peek. (Note the impressive bridge.)

P.S. You're right about Wikipedia gobbling up vast amounts of time. I should have had my shower an hour ago, and here I am still in my pyjamas. Puffball 08:37, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] American Bridge Company in Template:Did you know

Hi! I couldn't help but notice that the ABC article I started and self nom-ed didn't last long in DYK. I was quite honored that it was chosen but rather disappointed that it didn't last very long at all... Was there something about it that made it unsuitable? I saw that the target text I put in the suggestion got rather mangled to the point that it didn't quite say what it should have. It was my first nomination so while trying to avoid WP:OWN about the whole thing, I'm still rather curious. Thanks! (I've set a watch here so feel free to respond here, I'll see it) ++Lar 03:52, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Sorry about this all. ABC was actually put back onto the DYK a half-hour after my change, and stayed up for 7 hours after that. The minimum time for DYK to appear is six hours, and since there was a backlog of unused DYK facts, I automatically assumed that no one had updated the space for a while. -- user:zanimum

[edit] Thanks

Thanks for the kind words, someone has offered to nominate me soon actually, if you don't mind I'll give you a shout when I'm nominated so you can vote if thats ok? :) - FrancisTyers 11:25, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

No need to shout, I'll be watching for it... shouting can sometimes be perceived as soliciting for votes by those looking for reasons to oppose. ++Lar 16:29, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

ANCOT&ASD - Puffball 18:28, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm 'murrican (if anglophilic) so a cuppa's not really what I tend to hanker after... LOL! But the sentiment, not the drink, is the point! Regrettably, it is a sentiment often wasted on those who are looking for reasons to oppose. ++Lar 18:51, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Boldly go ...

Hello! Thanks for your review and praise of my burgeoning article. How did you find it, by the way? Another Wikipedian actually suggested the article and he perused it for me a few days ago. Amidst other things, I'm still editing the ST article and will not publicise it until I can source it properly and get another set of eyes: much of it is derived from one of the online sources noted. I will do so, and will also add a concise version to the Star Trek article (which was the original intent!) in the next few days.

Moving an article is often the way to go but, given my many minor edits therein and as this is rather a singular venture (analogous to preparing a manuscript before submission or publication), I'll be copying it when it's complete: there's no reason for these many minor edits to pollute the article's history ... after which it can garner an edit history all its own. :)

I did know about Star Trek New Voyages (and I have an issue of Wired in which this series is profiled), so I'll briefly mention this too.

Please let me know if you have any more feedback or questions. Thanks again! E Pluribus Anthony 16:16, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

I found it because I still had a watch on your talk page and scanning the watchlist, the comment about it caught my eye... ++Lar 17:15, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Ah! No worries ... I didn't know I was under the eye of others.  :) Enjoy! E Pluribus Anthony 17:30, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] BrickWiki

Answered there but answering here too... Thanks for the idea/reminder. BW has some (minor but cool) custom MediaWiki extensions. Losing them would be a bummer but might be worth it. We had thought of it before, and that was why we didn't pursue it then. Do you have involvement with WikiCities or should we pursue other channels to investigate? Thanks! (if it makes sense, feel free to email me, I'll copy the admins/'crats of BW in my reply. I am just a user with high edit count there, not an admin) ++Lar 16:20, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Having a Wikicity myself (wag.wikicities.com), I know you can make basic adjustments to MediaWiki as an admin on a particular project, and I can't imagine them not letting you add on any extra stuff. I don't have any connection with Wikicities, but I am a Wikimedia Foundation press contact/Wikipedia sysops/one of only seven "accredited reporters" on Wikinews, so I'm fairly well favoured by the establishment, it seems. Angela would be the one to talk to, she's sort of the general manager of the project, having co-founded it with Jimmy Wales. -- user:zanimum

[edit] MTV Generation or XY Cusp

I really appreciate the support and advice Lar. Thanks. r430nb

[edit] I need to not forget about these links

(some moved to user page) (these are here because I am not sure whether they belong on my main user page yet)

• find all your user pages [1]
• vandalism report [2]
• collection of thoughtful essays Category:Wikipedia essays
• I should add mine when I have more experience, to do so now would be presumptuous Wikipedia:Requests_for_adminship/Standards

[edit] Template

Hello Larry. Can you go to WP:TFD and comment or vote about Template:PD-USGov-LOC ? Thank you - Darwinek 11:11, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Poll on years of birth/death

Hi, you may want to participate in the poll at Wikipedia talk: Manual of Style (dates and numbers) # "Should the year of birth/year of death be linked in biographies?" -- User:Docu

[edit] Userboxes

I'm not upset with you for creating the proposed policy page. Actually I can't say I'm upset with anyone in particular. I just don't like how restrictive some of the proposals are. I was hoping for some lighthearted discussion, but the page turned out to be a harsh debate. Anyway, hopefully the page will produce a usable policy. --TantalumTelluride 21:47, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I was just trying to help out. I sort of wish that it hadn't went to proposals right away, I think some principles would have been good to establish (either points where consensus exists (we are not robots, we are people, but we are here to build an encyclopedia), or points where it doesn't yet (userboxes about polticial alignments do/do not add to the goal)) before getting to proposals but since we did, I put my oar in. ++Lar: t/c 22:38, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

I've reset the debate here with the hope of seeing discussion rather than a vote. I've made that aim quite clear, and so hopefully we'll see a debate rather than a straw poll before we having anything concrete to vote on. If you want to discuss this, see my reasoning on the discussion's talk page. Thanks, and good work staying focused in the mud-slinging fight-to-the-death this almost became/is becoming. Harro5 06:19, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Well done. While I was composing a promise to try to reset things tomorrow (I had an edit conflict because you were posting your statement at the same time I was), you went off and did what I wanted to do. VERY Nice work. Here's hoping it works. ++Lar: t/c 06:24, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Speaking of edit conflicts: Excellent work. Nice refactoring. Hopefully, the discussion will be more productive and less uncivil this time. --TantalumTelluride 06:26, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

The old stuff is archived here: Wikipedia:Proposed policy on userboxes/Proposals. I haven't protected it (should I?) as some debates are still plodding along. No moves towards policy, just bickerinig, so maybe it's best to leave them there to argue away from the more useful discussion we've got now. Harro5 21:47, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DYK

Did you know? has been updated. A fact from the article Sky Ride, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

[edit] sponsorVfD

Hi! Thanks for the message on the Sponser thing. I think it has some potential to reduce the amount of work it takes to delete an article and at the same time encourage improving new articles. I created it at a time when there was a lot of talk about replacing AFD. If you think editors would react positively we could float a trial baloon. I guess it depends on how strong your feelings are about replacing AFD or if it's even broken. I've worked a fair bit on Wikipedia:Deletion_reform/Proposals/Uncontested_deletions also, another idea that would reduce the workload. Anyway, thanks! Rx StrangeLove 03:31, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm down with that... maybe wait a bit for things to settle a bit? but I do think Deletion Reform is needful. ++Lar: t/c 03:43, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cheeky bugger

You've said lots of things I disagreed with, but I don't recall you even saying it in a manner that I disagreed with. I like you just fine, and sticking it to me with "OMFG" gave me the best laugh I've had today. - brenneman^(t)(c) 02:21, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use on userboxes

I thank you for reaching some type of middle ground on this. While I know that some will oppose this rule, but with you and userbox project members helping me, we should be able to deal with this issue fairly quickly. If you have any questions, you can come and see me. Zach ^{(Smack Back) Fair use policy} 07:59, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

No worries. But I am late for bed, we'll see where this is at when I get up tomorrow... ++Lar: t/c 08:01, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DYK

Did you know? has been updated. A fact from the article orthotropic deck, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

[edit] My Request for Adminship

Hey man, thanks a lot for voting in my RfA, for your offer of nomination, support and confidence. I got it! :) If you need anything, just give me a shout. - FrancisTyers 01:05, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:Notability (websites)

Hi, I've rewritten Wikipedia:Notability (websites), leaning heavily on Wikipedia:Notability (companies and corporations) for insiration. I've tried to make the guidelines broader so that they can be applied to any form of web content, rather than focusing on specifics. The goal shouldn't be to set bars to take account of particular examples, but rather to outline existing policy and consensus at various places. As someone who has expressed an opinion on the guidelines in the past, I hope you will read the new version and comment on the talk page. Steve block talk 12:09, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks

Pgk's RFA

---

Thanks for your support on my request for adminship.

The final outcome was (80/3/0), so I am now an administrator. I was flattered by the level of support and the comments, so I'm under real pressure not to disappoint, thus if you have any queries, suggestions or problems with any of my actions as an admin then please leave me a note --pgk^(talk) 11:41, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Comment on your comment

I would argue that there is no consensus that I "acted out of line"; there was a lot of support for my actions as well as opposition. I'd like to discuss in more details what you think I did wrong and what you would have preferred I do instead, if you're willing to do so. Kelly Martin (talk) 19:02, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I would be happy to discuss further via talk pages or IRC as you prefer. It would need to wait a few days due toscheeduling, I am teaching during the day all day tomorrow and flying on Wed but that's a scheduling issue, not an avoidance... my email button should work if you want to go that way... thanks for your message! ++Lar: t/c 01:24, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Undelete request

I have requested undeletion at WP:DRV#Template:User_against_scientology. Regardless of whether or not this template has any merit it should be undeleted until the tfd has run it's course. Your vote at the tfd counts for nothing if the speedy deletion stands.--God of War 06:11, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sky Ride

Sorry for not responding quicker. Yeah, I saw "Copyright 1933" before I saw "No known restrictions on publication. No renewal found in Copyright Office.", so it's alright. By the way, if you like my talk archive names, please consider writing a new Golden Age article in your area of expertise. I'm running out! Thanks.--Pharos 08:12, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] About the Tool

The problem is, as you correctly guessed, getting web hosting for the tool. We've already compiled a Java archive of the last "stable" version (we're working on v3.30 right now) and if you could provide us with some that would be greatly appreciated. I'll talk with Flcelloguy and ask him about the status of his changes to the code and get back to you later about this. Titoxd^{(?!? - help us)} 21:32, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

And since you're an advanced Java programmer too, you can also help us a lot with the coding/implementation of several features. Just ask me what to do and how if you're interested, ok? :) Titoxd^{(?!? - help us)} 23:34, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Hi Titoxd! Contact me via email to get the space set up once you have an archive file you want hosted. As for helping with coding, I'll have to think about it, I'm way overbooked on projects as it is... ++Lar: t/c 04:26, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Ah, I just saw your note reminding us about hosting space. Thanks! We'll just try to make a few tweaks to the tool (like handling exceptions) and we'll ask you about that then, ok? Titoxd^{(?!? - help us)} 02:07, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

No worries! Whenever, just LMK. ++Lar: t/c 04:41, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Crimethink

If I put this into my userbox list, does it mark me as markable?

This user does not have an opinion about anything.

++Lar: t/c 05:49, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ArbCom 2006 Elections

[edit] Impressed

Hi. Thanks for your compliment ("very IMPRESSED with this candidate"), and I'm sorry to see that you disagreed with my viewpoint on the one point. (Well, basically the point of this message was to thank you for the compliment ;) ) Cheers. —Ilyanep (Talk) 03:55, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

You're welcome. It's a minor point really, where you missed the boat is that there are people that love to fix things but can't create content.. pair this guy up with one of them to help edit, after getting them to know each other and Bob's your uncle. Several other folks spotted that right away. You'd have to have managed teams a fair bit to spot it. (I've been in IT almost twice as long as you've been alive... experience DOES help sometimes). A minor point but a crucial one for ArbComm. ++Lar: t/c 04:02, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Edit Counts

• I apologise for the confusion that you may have encountered when you were checking my edit counts...I did not unforsee this potential problem when I created my only Doppelganger account, and I have taken note of the problem. - Best regards, Mailer Diablo 13:19, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

no prob, I did find the edits eventually. 12K is an impressive amount. ++Lar: t/c 04:31, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Not suffering fools gladly

...is indeed a mixed blessing! Thanks for the proper perspective. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 05:44, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hardly any answers to questions...

Hi, Guapovia here. I've answered the two questions I got in the Election...are there any you'd like to ask me? Cheers, Guapovia 19:41, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I suggest you go through other candidates and find all the "standard questions asked of all candidates" and answer those, because there were a bunch. Hope that helps. ++Lar: t/c 20:06, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Metapedians

Ah! A fellow Metapedian. I wanted to ask you how I could become "less risky" for next year, like Dbiv, i'm also a politician, albeit a more inexperienced one: I ran for State Representative from Merrimack, New Hampshire last year, and I also ran for a town position in May 2005. I didn't expect to come anywhere near winning here in the Arbcom election, but if I can learn to better myself and better campaign from this for future "real" elections, I'd consider this experience a victory.

I could also answer the questions you had there if you'd like, as well as on my Wikiphilosophies. I think it's fairly understandable why i've become so cynical about the structure of Wikipedia from the actions during the past few weeks from the "certain people" Radiant talked about above. Karmafist 04:07, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Well... you know, I didn't PLAN to come here to be meta (but ya, I guess I am), I actually came to write articles (and then got sidetracked by the Checkerboard Nightmare AfD and started trying to figure out this community). But studying communities is an interest area of mine so I always seem to get sucked into it, no matter what hobby it is I get involved in. Maybe that's something f a flaw with me. (my primary hobby is one that I was/am heavily involved in community with... perhaps to the detriment of the community, some would say... I realised I wasn't building as many brickwiki:MOCs as I'd like so I've throttled back there... I actually have been cited in a PhD thesis about that community but I digress)

ANYWAY... advice? Not sure you want/should take my advice, really. But what I observe is that you seem to be a focal point for controversy. My impression, especially if you're not part of the old guard, is... do not do that. Being part of too many controversies drags you down. (As a libertarian, I know we have this thing called Libertarian Macho Flash... it's fun, it's righteous, but it doesn't win elections, it turns people off... being in NH, you presumably have some familiarity with the Libertarian Party whether you approve or disapprove, and know what I mean.) The candidates that seem to be doing well in this election are ones that gave cogent policy statements, that don't have a reputation for blowups, and haven't offended either the old guard or the newbies (I'm a newbie, remember... less than 1K edits). Calling your candidacy "risky" maybe isn't the right term. I guess I just fear you'd be ineffective because of that baggage, you'd have detractors hounding you. Since I am in the "process makes things fairer" camp I find myself opposed to some here who seem to think WP:IAR justifies repeated deletions, wheel wars, and etc, but I'll likely never stand for adminship myself. So.. I dunno. That was a ramble, no idea if it helped. (grin) PS, why does your sig not link to the conventional places like talk and user? ++Lar: t/c 04:31, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

You're right there, i'm definately in the fray too much, largely because I tend to put my heart on my sleeve. I think I need to put it to the side and use it as a compass for my brain in the future. Sometimes you want to help so much that it blinds you to what you actually needs to be done in order to achieve what you want in order to help. This last one with Kelly Martin was frightening since it showed that once you get to the top levels, you're basically above the law for the most part, although she lost her "political capital" in the end, so I guess it worked out.

I'm beginning to become somewhat jaded these controversies, they happen every few months or so. Wikipedians For Decency, Editcountitis, The Ad Scare, etc. The userbox thing as well as the underlying cause of it too will fade after awhile. I just have to remember that when the next one comes up. You and me are in the same boat in regards to IAR, IAR should only be a last resort.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I just got my new sig, let me know if I fixed it correctly. Karmafist 00:47, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I need to cut back on the meta stuff and write more articles, it's fun and I have about a half dozen in my userspace in various states... i missed all the earlier controveries (editcountitis is an actual controversy???), maybe not missing much. Your sig works fine for me now! ++Lar: t/c 01:20, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, it was more of a backlash. At one point, if you go back to WP:RFA before around September/October 2005 or so, the amount of users you'll see passing with under 2,000 edits significantly drops compared to afterwards. It was then that there was a backlash against the practice of judging someone against the benchmark of 2,000 edits, and people when people voted against admin candidates for having less than 2,000 edits, they'd often get 2 or 3 votes in favor for them if they were remotely qualified. Now, you don't see edit count as an issue anymore unless it's very low, usually around less than 900 or so. I personally think edit counts don't matter as much as how much you know your way around here when it comes to RFA, but edit counts are generally a good partial indicator, both positive and negative -- users under 500 edits are usually very green, users with more than 15,000 edits are generally insane(just look, most at that level have had an rfa or rfar against them). Then again, that may change over time as well. And don't knock Metapedianism, Wikipedia wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for the social network that's built it. Karmafist 01:36, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm not KNOCKING Metapedianism, just trying to forswear it if I can (ha!)... it always seems to be what I get involved in, in any hobby (PCs, trains, politics, gaming, LEGO, etc...), the org side of things instead of the action. and it's BECAUSE without it, things don't get done. I think your edit count comments are spot on. (sometime today I will cross or will have crossed the 1000 threshold but I am still only an egg... however I took the time to do a lot of reading so I think maybe I know more than some at this count level.) On the other hand before I got 2000 edits on BrickWiki I and one other user (of about the same count) had created almost 400 useful articles. Partly because a small wiki needs a lot less meta. (the upside of that experience was that I have some familiarity with how markup and stuff works in too, I wrote a LOT of templates there) ++Lar: t/c 01:46, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Explanation of irony

Sure, if you want. It's kind of a long story. It's a long-standing tradition that any article on a school nominated for deletion is met with a hoard of "keep" votes and generally a lot of nastiness and personal attacks on the person who nominated it. Several so-called project pages exist to garner votes to keep school articles regardless of their merit. And any discussion on it has stalled because the so-called voting mob does not wish, nor see the need, to compromise or be reasonable about it.

Recently, somebody decided to delete a lot of userboxen. This was met with heavy opposition by the community. Two of that person's friends responded by also deleting a lot of userboxen. This was met with more heavy opposition. As a result, any userbox nominated for deletion is now met with a hoard of "keep" votes, nastiness and some personal attacks, and at least one so-called project page has appeared to garner votes to keep userboxen, regardless of their merit. And the discussion on the matter is stalling because the so-called voting mob does not wish, nor see the need, to compromise or be reasonable.

So yes, the irony is obvious. And the irony is staggering because one of the foremost proponents of keeping all schools using any means (including spurious logic, gratuitous personal attacks and so-called mob lynching) is also one of the foremost proponents of deleting many userboxen, and was therein met with spurious logic, gratuitous personal attacks and an attempted so-called mob lynching. Radiant_>|< 00:39, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Radiant!... I sort of had the first two paras figured out but haven't figured out who you mean in the third para yet... I will, I think. Maybe. (PS, it's "horde" as in angry mob, not "hoard" as in large stash of supplies) PS, I am hopeful that the userbox proposal will actually get somewhere sometime soon. ++Lar: t/c 04:23, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

• Wouldn't it be a horde of voters casting a hoard of votes? :) At any rate it would be nice to have a consensual userbox proposal, but at the moment emotions are too heated for that to seem likely. Still, no harm in trying. Radiant_>|< 11:08, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Your wish is my command

To User:Lar/monobook.js add:

function addForceSummary()
{
    if(!/&action=edit/.test(window.location.href) && !/&action=submit/.test(window.location.href)) return;
    if(/&section=new/.test(window.location.href)) return;
    if(!document.forms.editform) return;
    document.forms.editform.wpSave.onclick = forceSummary;
}

function forceSummary()
{
    if(!document.forms.editform.wpSummary.value.replace(/^(?:\/\\*.*\\*\/)? *(.*) *$/,'$1'))
    {
        var r = prompt('Are you sure you want to submit without adding a summary?\nTo add a summary, type it in the box below:',document.forms.editform.wpSummary.value);
        if(r == null) { return false; }
        document.forms.editform.wpSummary.value = r;
    }
    return true;
}

addOnloadHook(addForceSummary);

added and it works great! thanks! (now who was that code fairy that left me a nice gift but didn't sign their work??? I could use {{unsigned}} but that's no fun!) ++Lar: t/c 21:38, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

You know who it was :-) - Just zis Guy, you know? ^[T]/_[C] AfD? 21:47, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Eeek!

Thank you for that, page duly updated! [[Sam Korn]] 23:03, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

You still owe me an explanation for your irrational anti-PINK-ism though!++Lar: t/c 01:32, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Response

moved to Radiant's talk, since thread was started there.

[edit] I'm flattered

• Thanks! I'm flattered :) Radiant_>|< 22:24, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wiki School input

As all good election candidates, I am breaking my RfA election promises, and doing what I said I would do if I did get elected, that is the Wiki School. Be a good chap and fill it out a bit would you? It really needs a more experienced person than me on it already. I will, I'm sure, 'release it' when it is a bit more honed to a wider audience, but for now, I'd be grateful for your input on it. Be bold with your changes! Brusselsshrek 22:06, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dual gauge for Africa

Dang, that's right. It's been userfied. Johnleemk | Talk 07:52, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DYK

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